The Sextet - Entanglements [The Sextet Anthology, Volume 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (30 page)

* * * *

Craig finished his test run on the new engine and hopped out of the car. After talking with the engineers, he noticed Lindsey sitting over to the side on the pit wall. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, and as much as that scared him, he found himself walking toward her.

“Trying to figure out how to steal the car and take it for a ride?” He joked as he sat down next to her.

“Ha-ha, very funny.”

He couldn’t see her eyes that were hidden by her sunglasses, but her smile touched him. “I’m glad you had a good time today.”

Lindsey turned and looked at him. “I really was scared.” She shook her head and half laughed. “But it was far more thrilling than I’d ever expected.”

Grinning, Craig began thinking of
other
ways to thrill Lindsey. Ways that included just the two of them,
alone
. He tried to summon the courage to ask her to dinner, hoping it would lead to other things. “Lindsey, how about…”

“Craig Westmoreland!” A deep voice stopped Craig from finishing his questions. “How the hell are ya, buddy”

Craig looked up to find Dirk MacKenzie and Rusty walking toward him and Lindsey. A frustrated sigh fell from his lips as he looked at the cocky, arrogant man that was absolutely
not
his buddy.

“Sorry again about that misunderstanding last weekend.” Dirk looked down at Lindsey, who was still sitting on the wall next to Craig. “I really thought we’d talked about the changes.” He placed his hands on his hips and grinned at Craig.

Lindsey just nodded, which made Craig want to tear Dirk a new one.

“No worries, Dirk. Things happen.” She paused and looked up from her notes. “At least we’re all set for the next race with a breakfast with Craig that includes a photo op for twenty people.”

Craig almost laughed as a scowl appeared on Dirk’s face. Lindsey sat calm and cool, which only seemed to irritate Dirk more.

Finally, he rubbed his chin and turned to Craig. “So how about that ride?”

“Sure. Dirk, why don’t you go with Rusty and get suited up. Then I’ll take you out on the track as soon as you’re ready.”

Dirk clasped his hands together and then followed Rusty toward the garage. Meanwhile, Craig turned and looked at Lindsey.

“Why didn’t you call him out on last weekend?”

Shrugging, Lindsey cocked her head. “Wouldn’t change anything.”

“But yet you called him out on next weekend purposely in front of me.”

She grinned at him, “He got me once. I’m just making sure he knows it won’t happen again.”

Craig laughed and shook his head. “You surprise me.” When she smiled, he found himself staring at her luscious lips, and damn if he didn’t want to kiss her on the spot. “I’ll run him close to the wall, just for you. Let’s see if he screams like you did.”

“I
did not
scream.”

“Oh, yeah, you did.” He leaned closer to her, so close he had to stop himself from nibbling on her ear when he spoke. “I wonder what other things make you scream.”

Blushing, Lindsey stood and looked up at the sky. “On that note, I think I should get going.”

“What? You’re not staying at the hotel until tomorrow like the rest of us?”

“Can’t. I fly to Dallas tomorrow morning to finalize the Mother’s Day sponsorship for next year. You remember the one for Go Red for Women and heart disease?” She turned and saw Dirk walking from the garage with Rusty and laughed. “I’m sure you’ll have more fun with Dirk than me.” She raised her brow and smiled as she walked away. “See you next week.”

* * * *

Craig tried calling and texting Lindsey several times later that night, but she wasn’t replying. Tossing his phone onto the bed, he flipped through the channels on the TV, wishing he was at home and not at a hotel in Charlotte. When his phone finally rang, he grabbed it seeing it was her.

“Where have you been?” he asked anxiously.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I was taking a shower. What’s so damn important?”

Did she say shower?

Images of water flowing over Lindsey’s curvy, naked body stirred things inside of him. He pictured her brown hair slick against her body as droplets of water dripped from the puckered tips of her supple breasts. He imagined what it would be like to lick those drops of water from her tits with his tongue then suck the puckered buds into his mouth. How it would feel to have her pinned beneath him, to fill her with slow thrusts of his hard cock until she cried out his name? To feel her pussy tighten around…

“Earth to Craig. What’s going on?”

Rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand, Craig groaned and tried to shake the images from his mind, images that now had him hard and aching, images that would probably keep him awake all night. “Um…right. I have some news on your best friend Dirk.” He paused, letting out a slow breath, and tried to ignore his throbbing erection.

“Tell me you didn’t really bang into the wall with him?”

No, but I wanted to, but now I’d rather bang you.
He huffed out a laugh that might have been more of a frustrated sigh from his current condition. Clearing his throat, he tried to focus back on his news. “Never got the chance.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lindsey, you should have seen it.” He laughed into the phone and couldn’t stop. “Oh, man. Dirk puked all over Rusty after I took him around the track.” He continued laughing, unable to even catch his breath. “I didn’t even drive as fast as I did with you or even get near the wall. He was green before we finished the first lap.”

“No way!” she screeched.

“Oh yeah.” He let out a long breath, trying to calm himself. “And the best part was he screamed like a little girl!” He laughed loudly again, but this time he heard Lindsey laughing as well.

“I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it,” he replied as he listened to the melody of her laugh. When he finally hung up the phone, she was still laughing, and it was the best sound Craig had heard all day. While he wanted nothing more than to sit and think about Lindsey, the throbbing between his legs needed his attention.
Time for a cold shower…

* * * *

Lindsey got back from Dallas on Sunday afternoon. Her trip had been a huge success. She not only signed Fresh Cosmetics to sponsor Craig’s car for Mother’s Day in support of building awareness of heart disease for women, she also sold them an associate sponsor on every one of Thompson Racing’s cars for next year. At first, Jud wasn’t sure about the sponsorship, but once she’d explained the demographics of Craig’s fan base and NASCAR fans in general, he was easily swayed. Or maybe it was the number of zeros on the check that she promised to bring back to him.

Wanting it to be the first thing Jud saw on Monday morning, Lindsey decided to stop by the office on her way home and drop off the check—with all those zeros. She smiled as she slipped it under his door, and then walked down the hall to her own office. After dropping her computer case on the spare chair, she moved behind her desk, sat in her chair, and then spotted a gift.

“What’s this?”

Opening the card, she read the message.

Thought you might like these to remember your day on the track. Craig.

Curious, she opened the present and found a framed picture of her and Craig, sitting in the car at Charlotte after he’d taken her for a ride. She smiled as she looked at it. “That was a great day.”

He’d included other pictures, and her smile grew as she flipped through them. Touched more than she ever thought possible, she set the frame on her desk and glanced over at it often as she turned on her computer and started going through her e-mails.

* * * *

Craig was sitting at home, watching TV and thinking of Lindsey. He picked up the picture of the two of them sitting on the pit wall laughing while in Charlotte. It was probably a good thing she was in Dallas on their off week, otherwise he’d probably do something stupid like show up on her doorstep. He closed his eyes and grimaced.

How did this happen?

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Her excitement during the ride around the track, her laughter when he told her about Dirk, her smile and deep brown eyes that warmed his soul. All of it—of her—haunted his dreams.

He looked at the picture again. He wanted to see her, to make her smile like she was in the picture. Because that’s what made him happy…seeing her smile.

Chapter 7

Talladega was already proving to be a challenge for Lindsey, as well as Craig and several other drivers. During practice, Tom Patterson slid going into turn two and took out Craig and four other drivers. The damage to Craig’s car was extensive. Twisted metal hanging from the car while steam poured from the engine. Luckily Craig didn’t appear to be hurt, but the team had to scramble to ready the backup car for qualifying.

Craig was in a mood after he’d been checked by the track doctor and released. He paced around the garage while the men worked to get his backup car ready. “Fuck it! Just let me get out on the track. There’s only forty minutes of practice time left.” He kicked at some boxes that were sitting on the floor, causing them to skid across the garage. “If I qualify far back in the lineup, we don’t have a chance of winning on Sunday.”

Scotty tried to calm him. “We’re almost ready, Craig, just relax.”

Craig shot him a glare similar to the one he’d given Lindsey earlier that morning at the autograph signing. A couple of young fans, female fans, got a little too up close and personal with Craig, and Lindsey wasn’t around to stop it. He was furious with her and let her know it loud and clear. She’d tried to apologize, but he wouldn’t listen to her. Now, she just wanted to make sure she stayed out of his way.

“All right, let’s get this baby out on the track,” Scotty yelled.

Lindsey waited and watched as the team pushed the car out of the garage.

Rusty looked back at her. “You coming?”

“Don’t you have other things to worry about than me?”

Rusty shook his head. “It’s up to Scotty and Paul to get things ready for Craig. I’m just sitting in the pit box and watching what happens.” He nodded for her to follow, so she grabbed her things and walked with him.

When they got to the pit, Craig was already in the car and starting the engine. She felt the rumble in her body from her head to her toes. She climbed up onto the pit box where Rusty was sitting next to Scotty. Putting on the headset that Scotty handed her, she could hear Craig bitching as she settled the cups over her ears. He cussed about her, his car, his team…everything.

Scotty shook his head, closed his eyes, and waved his hand nonchalantly, telling her to ignore it. He covered his mic and yelled over the track noise. “He’s just venting.”

Deep down, Lindsey knew it was true, but it didn’t make her feel any better. She started to look over her notes for the rest of the weekend. Craig had a TV interview after qualifying, then another sponsor appearance, and two more in the morning before the race. She closed her eyes, not looking forward to the rest of the afternoon with him.

“I’m coming in!” Craig’s voice yelled through her headset. “This car sucks! I want four new tires, and you need to get me out so I can run a few laps on them before qualifying.”

“What do you mean the car sucks?” Scotty asked. “Is it tight, loose, or what?”

“All of it.” Craig hollered back.

Scotty’s head fell into his hands. “Guys, get the tires ready and get him out. We need a few laps so we can figure out what changes to make for him to qualify. He’s not got the speed right now.”

While the guys scurried into position, Craig’s car screeched to a stop in the pit, and the team got to work changing the tires. Within seconds, he was back out on the track getting his car up to speed. Lindsey looked at the clock on the computer monitor in front of her. Ten minutes left for practice, and Craig was silent on the radio. Noticing movement, Lindsey looked over to the side and watched as Scotty pointed to the computer monitors, tapping his fingers nervously.

“He’s at 165 miles per hour…” Scotty called out to the crew. Lindsey watched the monitor as Scotty tracked Craig’s speed. “That lap was 168.” They watched and waited for Craig to complete another lap. “171.”